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Elon Musk Sets Internet On Fire With Cryptic Tweet About Dying ‘Under Mysterious Circumstances’

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Tesla CEO Elon Musk ignited a firestorm on social media after suggesting he may die “under mysterious circumstances.”

Many Twitter users speculated about who Musk may have been referring to, but it’s unclear from his cryptic message.

“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” Musk, who recently acquired Twitter, posted on the social media platform.

When Musk’s mother Maye Musk responded, “That’s not funny,” her son replied, “Sorry! I will do my best to stay alive.”

On Saturday, Musk put new and current Twitter employees on notice about getting ready to work.

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“Work ethic expectations would be extreme, but much less than I demand of myself,” the billionaire said in a tweet.

The post followed a series of tweets that garnered attention.

On Friday, Musk shared some more of his vision for the platform.

“If Twitter acquisition completes, the company will be super focused on hardcore software engineering, design, infosec & server hardware,” he tweeted Friday morning in a post containing a link to the Fortune story.

“I strongly believe that all managers in a technical area must be technically excellent. Managers in software must write great software or it’s like being a cavalry captain who can’t ride a horse!” he added.

Musk has not officially gained control over Twitter yet, but in anticipation of his purchase deal going through, the platform is getting a lot more attention — to the chagrin of current employees.

Employment interest at Twitter following the SpaceX and Starlink founder’s buyout being accepted by the platform’s board of directors has skyrocketed:

It’s still unclear how a Musk-run Twitter might impact the company’s ability to retain current staff and recruit new employees. The company presented the takeover as a potential threat to its staffing abilities in an SEC filing Monday. 

But at least casual interest in open positions at the company has skyrocketed since the Tesla billionaire showed serious interest in taking over the company. 

On Thursday, Daniel Zhao, a senior economist and data scientist at the job insights platform Glassdoor, tweeted that interest in job openings at the social media giant was up 263% between April 24 and April 30. 

“Some trivia: With the announcement of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition offer being accepted, interest in Twitter jobs on Glassdoor rose 263 percent last week (4/24-4/30), compared to the March 2022 baseline,” Zhao tweeted.

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He followed that up with this: “Well, the above data is made more relevant by today’s news. Say what you will about Elon, he does have a large fanbase of ppl excited to work for him. He’s much more likely to capitalize on that attraction as CEO than owner.”

In a statement to the financial news outlet, Zhao explained that interest is gauged by the number of average daily clicks on Twitter job postings on the platform as compared to daily job click averages in a March 2022 baseline before news broke that Musk was making a play for the social media giant.

And while clicks don’t necessarily translate into actual job applications submitted and could simply reflect current media focus on him and his deal, “the increase shows that people appear to be interested not just in the media story, but in work available at the company,” the outlet reported.

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Fortune went on to know that a majority of Americans — 59 percent — approve of Musk’s takeover, according to a recent Harris Poll, “some current Twitter staff worry that it will dramatically change the company’s culture, and overall direction.”

That’s likely true if Musk implements some of the changes he has advertised such as much less censorship and a much greater emphasis on freedom of speech.

CNBC’s David Fabor reported that Musk is “expected to serve as a temporary CEO of Twitter for a few months after he completes his $44 billion take over of the social media company.”

“The report comes as Musk has secured $7.1 billion in new funding for the deal from a group of more than a dozen investors, including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Fidelity, and Brookfield Asset Management. In addition, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Alsaud has agreed to retain his 34,948,975 Twitter shares, worth approximately $1.9 billion,” Fox Business reported.

“As a result of the new commitments, Musk’s margin loan financing for the deal has been reduced from $12.5 billion to $6.25 billion, while his equity financing has increased from $21 billion to $27.25 billion. Musk’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission emphasizes that he is currently in discussions with existing shareholders of Twitter common stock, including co-founder Jack Dorsey, regarding ‘the possibility of contributing such shares of Common stock, at or immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, in order to retain an equity investment in Twitter following completion of the merger,'” the report added.

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